Community Partnership Special Projects Coordinator Michele Hethcoat said the Point in Time Count adult event saw approximately 300 sheltered and unsheltered individuals Jan. 31 at the Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Mosque.

The number of homeless youth is still being counted until later this month; however, in 2018, the partnership surveyed more than 100 youth, and about 31 were classified as unsheltered, Hethcoat said.

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Different services wait to provide information during the Point in Time homeless count at the YMCA on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

"Many of these faces are familiar. Many of us work in buildings where, even if we don’t do direct service, we see people in and out, day after day," Hethcoat said.

The youth event took place at the Ozarks Regional YMCA and was geared toward people were are between 13 to 24 years old, Hethcoat said. The night before Jan. 31, several shelters opened due to the cold weather, which may have affected their unsheltered numbers, she said.

"An awful lot of those people would have stayed sheltered last night but that doesn’t mean they have shelter tomorrow night when it’s not that cold," Hethcoat said Thursday. "That’s pretty limited and there are some pretty cold nights that they’re not open. For kids under 18, we have very limited sheltering options. Even for individuals over 18, there are only so many beds. There are a lot of people who end up sleeping in camps, on the streets, abandoned buildings, vehicles if they’re lucky enough to have one."

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Kelsey Cotten, right, talks with Job Corps Outreach and Admissions Counselor Emily Nelms during the Point in Time homeless county at the YMCA on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

For more than a week, 19-year-old Kelsey Cotten, of North Carolina, has been homeless. For several nights, she has been able to sleep in the Safe to Sleep women's shelter in Springfield.

"I was living with my (foster) mother. She kicked me out because I ran away with a 39-year-old — desperate, and all that," Cotten said. "And then he kicked me out and my mom won’t let me come back, so I’m on the streets until I can find my own place."

Cotten came to the event at the YMCA to learn what resources are available for schooling and medical. She said she has Raynaud's syndrome, which is coldness in the hands and feet due to low circulation.

"It’s the worst," Cotten said. "It’s been stressful, especially with my ADHD and all that, but I feel calmer now that I know resources."

While working on her GED, Cotten said she hopes to reconnect with her birth mother, who lives in Springfield.

Springfield Public Schools Homeless Liaison Lynn Schirk spoke with Cotten and other youth about educational opportunities that are available.

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Lynn Schirk, Springfield Public School's Homeless Liaison, talks with Kelsey Cotten during the Point in Time homeless county at the YMCA on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)

"Lots of times, youth experiencing unstable housing think that there are just too many obstacles to finishing their education or they may not even have an address to go enroll in school so they’re just hands-off. But, the reality is anyone, even if they’re literally homeless, can access their education and complete their education," Schirk said. "Our purpose here is to let youth know that we can actually remove barriers so they can complete their education. Additionally, part of our purpose here is to make sure that we’re connecting them with a best fit for education."

Out of 25,000 students, just over 1,200 are classified as homeless, Schirk said. That number includes "McKinney-Vento" eligible, or sheltered and unsheltered.

"McKinney-Vento eligible is different from just homeless because when people think of ‘homeless,’ they think of people living on the streets, in cars or whatever," Schirk said. "McKinney-Vento eligibility includes all of those categories, but also people who are doubled-up, staying with grandma and grandpa, whatever. It includes those who have just lost permanent housing due to some kind of economic hardship or disaster."

There are several organizations like Rare Breed Youth Services, Victory Mission and others who help homeless people, Hethcoat said.

"Every charity who works with the homeless is in need of financial donations," Hethcoat said.